Bracket Watch - Live From the Dayton's Bluff Library

As the title indicates, I'm doing the first Friday Bracket Watch installment from the road. I'll explain why in another post, but for now, here are the latest projections(Through Thursday night's games).

Final Four pairings
Midwest(1) vs. West(4)
South(2) vs. East(3)

Midwest region

@ Oklahoma City
1-Kansas(Big 12) vs. 16-Belmont(Atlantic Sun)
8-Clemson vs. 9-Rhode Island
@ Spokane
4-Gonzaga(West Coast) vs. 13-Northeastern(Colonial)
5-Ohio State vs. 12-South Florida
@ Providence
2-Georgetown vs. 15-Stony Brook(America East)
7-Nevada-Las Vegas vs. 10-Siena(Metro Atlantic)
@ New Orleans
3-Michigan State vs. 14-College of Charleston(Southern)
6-Northern Iowa(Missouri Valley) vs. 11-Florida State

West region

@ Jacksonville
1-Duke(Atlantic Coast) vs. 16-Robert Morris(Northeast)
8-Cornell(Ivy League) vs. 9-Dayton
@ Spokane
4-New Mexico(Mountain West) vs. 13-Florida
5-Texas vs. 12-California
@ Providence
2-Villanova vs. 15-Morgan State(Mid-Eastern)
7-Texas A&M vs. 10-Virginia Tech
@ New Orleans
3-Vanderbilt vs. 14-Kent State(Mid-American)
6-Temple vs. 11-Utah State(Western Athletic)

South region

@ Buffalo
1-Syracuse(Big East) vs. 16-Opening Round winner
Opening Round: Navy(Patriot) vs. Jackson State(Southwestern)
8-Illinois(Big Ten) vs. 9-Richmond
@ San Jose
4-Tennessee vs. 13-Murray State(Ohio Valley)
5-Georgia Tech vs. 12-Old Dominion
@ Milwaukee
2-Purdue vs. 15-Middle Tennessee(Sun Belt)
7-Xavier(Atlantic 10) vs. 10-Uab
@ Oklahoma City
3-Kansas State vs. 14- Sam Houston State(Southland)
6-Butler(Horizon) vs. 11-Marquette

East region

@ Milwaukee
1-Kentucky(Southeastern) vs. 16-UC Santa Barbara(Big West)
8-Wake Forest vs. 9-Missouri
@ San Jose
4-Pittsburgh vs. 13-Weber State(Big Sky)
5-Brigham Young vs. 12-Charlotte
@ Buffalo
2-West Virginia vs. 15-Coastal Carolina(Big South)
7-Baylor vs. 10-Utep(Conference USA)
@ Jacksonville
3-Wisconsin vs. 14-Oakland(Summit)
6-Maryland vs. 11-Mississippi State

Moves within: Charlotte(Down 1); Mississippi State(Up 1)
Last four in the field: Mississippi State, South Florida, Old Dominion, Florida
First four left out: Mississippi, South Carolina, St. Mary's, Louisville
Next four left out: Arizona State, Tulsa, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State
Also under consideration: Virginia, Notre Dame, Connecticut, Washington, Virginia Commonwealth, Seton Hall, Northwestern, Cincinnati, Wichita State, Arizona, St. John's, Miami(FL), Memphis, Wright State

Moving in: Belmont, South Florida, UCSB, Old Dominion, Navy, Mississippi State, Middle Tennessee
Moving out: Lipscomb, Louisville, Pacific, Lehigh, Mississippi, Arkansas State, St. Mary's

Next projection should come out on Monday.

About Last Night - Can you figure this out?

Can you figure out why bracketologists keep insisting on putting Northwestern in their projected(or predictive) brackets? I've no idea why, except to say that I've resisted putting them in. Last night in Iowa City was the perfect example of my prudentialistic attitude to the Wildcats. They fell behind Iowa early and trailed pretty much the whole game, ending up a 78-65 loser. Now at 5-6 in Big Ten play, the Wildcats need to score a few scalps along the way if they want to even have a chance at an at-large.

Can anyone help out Florida State? No? Well, me neither. Not after the Seminoles went up to Clemson and left it with a 77-67 defeat. They did not look impressive either, thus a likely spot near the cut line for Tomorrow's projections(Yes, I'm going to twice-a-week brackets for the rest of the month). Elsewhere in the ACC, Duke officially buried North Carolina's NCAA hopes in a 64-54 victory. What made it even sweeter for Blue Devil fanatics, was that it occured on Tyler Hansbrough Night.

Where have you gone, Jimmy Calhoun, our lonely nation turns it's eyes to you, whoo-hoo-hoo? I'll admit that UConn can make big comebacks, but can't finish them off. After trailing by 16 late in the 2nd half, the Huskies proceeded to let Syracuse off the mat and then found themselves on it. Result: the Orange 72, the Huskies 67, with the Huskies limping along with a deflated resume.

Can you guess who makes it out of the A-10? Charlotte had their chances heavily damaged by Dayton, who's own chances improved significantly in the 75-47 rout of the 49ers, while Richmond scored a 69-67 win over Rhode Island in Kingston. Right now, it looks as if the league could have 5 of it's teams represented in the NCAA's with a 6th possible, but who will play the sixth? The last month will prove telling.

Elsewhere, Northern Iowa escaped Drake and wrapped up part of the Missouri Valley crown; Miami(FL) edged Georgia Tech on a game winner at the horn; New Mexico dumped UNLV in Las Vegas(which only was seen nationally in the 2nd half, due to a TCU-Utah women's thriller which took 4 overtimes); Old Dominion handled James Madison with sang froid; and Baylor beat Nebraska by 2 in Lincoln.

The Woody Woodpecker Game

Each Tuesday from now until the end of the season, I'll put forward resumes of two teams competing for spots either in the NCAA tournament or for top seeds. All data is from http://rivals.yahoo.com/ and is current through Monday night.

Team A:
Team RPI rank: 62
Won-Loss 18-4
SOS rank: 186
W-L vs. RPI top 50: 1-2
W-L vs. 51-100: 6-2
W-L vs. 101-150: 1-0
W-L vs. rest of Division I: 11-0
RPI rank of Conference: 3

Team B:
Team RPI rank: 53
Won-Loss: 15-8
SOS rank: 26
W-L vs. RPI top 50: 2-3
W-L vs. 51-100: 3-4
W-L vs. 101-150: 2-0
W-L vs. rest of Division I: 8-1
RPI rank of Conference: 1

Hint: Team A has no real bad losses, but no good wins OOC. Team B has recently scored an important road win, but it has a bad home loss. I'll give you the answer in the comments section later on.

About last night - Free Falling

What sound does a longhorn make when it falls off a cliff and hits the valley below? You don't want to know. What sound are the Texas Longhorns making as they're heading for the proverbial valley floor? Clang, that's what. Oh and HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPP!!!! It can't be denied much longer, this team is no longer a threat to claim a #1 seed. Not after Kansas came into Austin(with a few of their followers in tow) and stomped all over the Horns 80-68, yes the score doesn't indicate the level of domination the Jayhawks had over the Horns, but it's also a warning sign to those seeking to challenge them over the next month. This may be the odds-on favorite to cut down the nets in Indy.

After it's flameout in Washington over the weekend, Villanova was dropped by most bracketologists from a top seed to a two in most projections. Big mistake on those who did. The Wildcats seized the lead early in the 1st half and never let West Virginia come closer than three in the second to post an 82-75 win in Morgantown. Still, with games against Pittsburgh and Syracuse forthcoming, not to mention a visit from the Mountaineers in their regular season finale, it's still not an easy road to climb for the Wildcats if they have any aspirations for being on the top line. Speaking of Pittsburgh, the Panthers were strongly challenged in the first half by Northeast leader Robert Morris, but it turned into a rout in the second, leading to a 77-53 decision.

Elsewhere, Siena's 69-67 win over Fairfield gave the Saints the top seed in the Metro Atlantic tournament(Only Iona can catch them for a tie of the regular season title, but the Saints already hold the tie-breaker by virtue of a sweep of the Gaels); Butler clinched a tie for the Horizon League title by beating Loyola of Chicago 62-47(this despite falling behind 21-9 in the 1st half); Morgan State edged Bethune-Cookman, 48-47, to stay three games clear in MEAC play; and The Citadel completed a season sweep of the College of Charleston, the Southern leader, 72-65.

Bracket Watch - Beyond the Super Bowl

And so, another National Football League season has ended and at the pinnacle of it are the New Orleans Saints, forever shorn of their losing image....ahh, who am I kidding? There are more important things to discuss(no the Olympics aren't one of them). Like why I completely misread Maryland's resume last week, or what happened to North Carolina recently. Thus I bring you the projections, done as always as if the college hoops season ended the day before.

Final Four pairings
Midwest(1) vs. West(4)
South(2) vs. East(3)

Midwest region

@Oklahoma City
1-Kansas(Big 12) vs. 16-Arkansas State(Sun Belt)
8-Mississippi vs. 9-St. Mary's(West Coast)
@San Jose
4-Pittsburgh vs. 13-Kent State(Mid-American)
5-Georgia Tech vs. 12-Dayton
@Milwaukee
2-Michigan State(Big Ten) vs. 15-Morgan State(Mid-Eastern)
7-Baylor vs. 10-Siena(Metro Atlantic)
@Providence
3-Georgetown vs. 14-Oakland(Summit)
6-Vanderbilt vs. 11-Virginia Tech

West region

@Providence
1-Villanova vs. 16-Robert Morris(Northeast)
8-Texas A&M vs. 9-Cornell(Ivy)
@Spokane
4-Gonzaga vs. 13-Utah State(Western Athletic)
5-New Mexico vs. 12-California(Pacific-10)
@Jacksonville
2-Duke(Atlantic Coast) vs. 15-Lipscomb(Atlantic Sun)
7-Rhode Island vs. 10-Illinois
3-Tennessee vs. 14-College of Charleston(Southern)
6-Butler(Horizon) vs. 11-Louisville

South region

@Buffalo
1-Syracuse(Big East) vs. 16-Opening Round winner
Opening Round: Lehigh(Patriot) vs. Jackson State(Southwestern)
8-Charlotte(Atlantic 10) vs. 9-Missouri
@Spokane
4-Wake Forest vs. 13-Northeastern(Colonial)
5-Nevada-Las Vegas(Mountain West) vs. 12-Florida
@Milwaukee
2-Purdue vs. 15-Pacific(Big West)
7-Northern Iowa(Missouri Valley) vs. 10-Clemson
@Oklahoma City
3-Kansas State vs. 14-Weber State(Big Sky)
6-Temple vs. 11-UAB

East region

@New Orleans
1-Kentucky(Southeastern) vs. 16-Stony Brook(America East)
8-Florida State vs. 9-Richmond
4-Texas vs. 13-Murray State(Ohio Valley)
5-Ohio State vs. 12-Marquette
@Buffalo
2-West Virginia vs. 15-Coastal Carolina(Big South)
7-Maryland vs. 10-Xavier
@San Jose
3-Wisconsin vs. 14-Sam Houston State(Southland)
6-Brigham Young vs. 11-Texas-El Paso(Conference USA)

Last four in the field: Dayton, Florida, Virginia Tech, Marquette
First four left out: Mississippi State, South Florida, Northwestern, Oklahoma State
Next four out: Wichita State, Washington, Connecticut, Old Dominion
Also under consideration: Notre Dame, Arizona State, Virginia Commonwealth, Cincinnati, Virginia, Texas Tech, Miami(FL), Minnesota, Seton Hall, William & Mary, Arizona, North Carolina, Portland, St. John's

Moving in: Maryland, Virginia Tech, Lipscomb, Richmond, Louisville, Marquette, Illinois, Northeastern, Utah State
Going out: Jacksonville, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, George Mason, Old Dominion, Wichita State, Arizona, Mississippi State, New Mexico State

Friendly reminder to all, the next projection will be on Friday.